Learning How to Live
by curlywitch77
Summary: First story. I'm going for a darker B&E, but they will find each other. Please read and review if you feel like it, good or bad.


**Author's note: I do not own anything that is Twilight. Nada, zilch, zero.**

**So, this is my first post and if I get encouragement to expand it, I will. Otherwise, this is it, for now. **

Bella Swan started off the morning the same as the last three weeks, crying . She lay in her bed, listening to the sounds of the neighborhood waking up into it's usual Monday activities, trash being taken out, dogs being walked and kids being bussed off to school. Every morning during this time, she had woken up screaming out to make them stop, to have pity on her and just let her die like she wanted to. It was the same dream she'd had since the night she was gang raped by her then boyfriend, Mike and a group of his "friends". Bella relived them all during the day as well, never really coming out of her zombie-like state to rejoin the living world.

It was at night, however, that the memories came back in full force.

She could still smell the sweat and liquor rolling off Mike, telling her she needed to understand her place in their relationship once and for all. They had gone to the local bar, despite Bella's request to stay home and maybe watch a movie or just talk about where their lives were headed. He had told her to shut up and get "her fucking ass in the car" with a hard smack to her rear. When they got to the bar, she immediately tensed after she saw the usual gang of assholes that Mike had been hanging out with. Bella knew she was in for a long night of boisterous talk and the eventually pissing contest that usually ended with her pulling Mike out of a heated argument before the new Chief was called to break it up. They sat at the table, saying hi to everyone, when Bella noticed that none of the wives were with any of the guys. Ignoring the obvious red flag, she walked up to the bartender and ordered her usual, a dirty martini, and a beer for Mike. As she made her way back to the table, she noticed one of the men eyeing suggestively, causing a repulsive shudder to slide through her body. Bella paused for the slightest of moments, feeling a wave of foreboding coming from the six men, including her boyfriend. What had gotten into him lately?

That night, however, she had been determined to relax and try to mix in with Mike and his friends. So, handing him his beer, where, instead of a 'Thank you', she was greeted with a, "It's about time, what took you so fucking long?" She just smiled and said sorry. The idea of her trying to fit in went right out the window after that. She would never like Mike's friends, so she resigned herself to just sitting there and thinking about the acceptance letter she had received from the University of Chicago last week. She had been hoping to get in and she had enough money, what with Charlie's remaining pension going to her and the money she would make selling his house and the full scholarship, she probably had enough in her account to pay for a small house off campus and a new, well new to her, car. The thought of leaving Forks was appealing to her more and more and getting away from Mike for awhile, or forever, was even better.

Bella was pulled out of her reverie by someone pushing her so hard, she almost fell out of her chair. After settling herself, she looked up and saw that Mike was looking at her with a sneer on his face. Bella was confused and, not to mention, a little scared by the look on his face.

"What are _you_ so fuckin' happy about?" he spat.

She didn't realize she had been smiling while thinking about her impending departure, she was going to have to think of something to appease him, quickly.

"I'm just having a good time, that's all" she said quietly, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"Yeah, right. I'll show you a good time, come here and give me a smooch, baby." Mike slurred, leaning towards her with his lips, wet from just taking a pull from his bottle, puckered up sarcastically. Bella leaned away reflexively, not realizing it until it was too late. Luckily, one of the Neanderthals sitting next to him, suddenly grabbed Mike's arm trying to get him involved in the bet about one of the new female worker's at the plant, seeing who could get her in the sack first. She went back to her drink, breathing a sigh of relief that she was able to avoid an embarrassing situation.

After a little while longer, Bella excused herself to go to the restroom, not noticing the look on Mike's face as she stood and made her way to the back. She went into one of the stalls, wondering how much longer she was going to be forced to stay here and pretend to be interested in what these yahoos were saying or doing. As she was pulling up the zipper on her jeans, she heard the outer door to the bathroom open and close. Not really thinking anything of it, Bella finished fastening her pants and opened the stall, not seeing the man standing behind her. Before she could even blink, he brought his right hand up and over her mouth, his left grabbing her breast roughly.

"Mmmmm, you're smell just as sweet as you look, baby." he whispered in her ear.

_Oh my God,_she thought frantically, _what the hell is going to happen to me?_

"Now you stay nice and quiet, sweet pea and this will all be over before you know it." As he said those last words, his hand that wasn't silencing her crept down and lifted her shirt up to just below her bra.

"I'm going to take my hand off your mouth now, are you going to be a good girl and not scream, or is Big Paul going to have to gag you?" He was inching her shirt higher and higher, revealing her chest .

Bella was terrified, tears falling down her cheeks, dripping on to her assailants hand and arm. She nodded that she wasn't going to scream and he released her mouth. Before she could even think to react to her temporary freedom, Paul yanked her shirt the rest of the way off, so she was standing half naked in the middle of the ladies room, her arms instinctively covering her breasts.

Paul wasn't having any of that, and yanked her hands down to her sides, while he nuzzled her neck drunkenly. Bella was fighting the urge to scream and pull away, knowing if she fought, it would just make it that much worse. She was shaking and crying, but he just laughed and pulled her towards the larger handicap stall, not even bothering to close the door. The only consolation she had was that Mike would probably be wondering what was taking her so long and come looking for her. She just had to stall until he got here. Her brain working a mile a second, Bella was trying to think up a way to slow this Paul guy down and hope Mike would bust in and save her. Before she could even speak a word, she heard the door to the bathroom open again and footsteps coming towards the stall they were in. Looking up, praying she was saved, Bella watched the opening for someone, anyone, to come and put a stop to this. She felt an immense relief as Mike came into view. Then it was immediately gone when she saw the look on his face.

_He's in on it. Holy fuck, he knows what's going on._

Sure enough, as Mike observed the two of them, Bella with her shirt off, backed up against the far wall and Paul busy undoing his pants and belt, he smiled the most evil smile she had ever seen on someone.

"Well, well, well, looks like I got here just in time. It's time to teach you a lesson slut. Did you think you were just gonna run away to Chicago and leave me hangin? I saw your fucking acceptance letter, bitch. You think you're smarter than me? Thought if you got yourself a fancy scholarship, you could show me up and leave? No one leaves Mike, especially not some piece of trash like you."

Bella was at loss. Was this really happening? How could he treat her like this? What had happened to him? Sure, he was kind of an ass sometimes, but he was usually mostly good to her and had never even hit her or yelled at her until recently. Even then, he never hurt her. How is this real? All she could do was stare at Mike, pleading silently not to do this, not to ruin her.

He never dropped his eyes from hers while watching the scene before him. Paul, now completely free of his pants, stepped towards Bella, licking his lips in anticipation. He reached out and grabbed her by the bra, roughly pulling her to him. His head dipped down to her neck again, licking and slovenly kissing her. She shut her eyes and whimpered while he reached behind her and clumsily undid the clasp, ripping the bra away from her body and on the floor. His hands reached down and started to undo the button and zipper on her jeans, pulling them down fast and hard, along with her panties. Bella was now entirely naked, shaking violently. She tore her gaze away from Mike, who was standing with a look of pure hatred on his face, and turned to Paul. He had a look of hunger and lust.

_This is it, this is how I'm going to die._

Bella closed her eyes, hoping she would wake up any minute in her safe, warm bed. This couldn't be happening! She felt her survival instincts kick in then, mentally denying what was going on. She felt Paul's rough worker's hands on her body, stroking up and down. His erection was prominent against her stomach as he grabbed her hand and brought it down to it.

"You feel that, baby? That's all for you. Big Paul is gonna make you feel so good." He made her palm him through his boxers and wrapped her fingers around it.

"Yeah, that's it, make me feel good, you're so hot, with your tight little ass and dick-suckin lips. I should make you wrap that hot little mouth around my dick and suck me off, but Mikey here has plans for you after me, so maybe next time." And with that, he pulled his underwear down.

Bella whimpered again, eyes still shut and felt as Paul lifted her up and slid her onto his dick. With quick, rough thrusts, he pounded into her for what seemed like an eternity before grunting and coming inside her. All she could think of was her father, Charlie, dying in his bed, Sue on one side and her on the other, holding his hand while he breathed his last breath. She only wished that she could've gone that way, been surrounded by loved ones, instead of being raped in a bathroom stall while her boyfriend watched. Paul pulled out of her with another grunt and she slid to the floor, not even bothering to cover herself anymore. Why should she? She was dead inside.

Just then, she felt Mike's hot breath on her face.

"That was just round one, whore. I've got all the guys outside waiting to take their turn with you. You're gonna understand where your place is." Having said that, he licked her ear and then slapped her face.

She heard the door open again, and the unzipping of pants. This nightmare was far from over.

After each of the six guys had there turn, Mike took his. By this point, Bella was so numb, she couldn't even feel anything. Looking back, she was relieved that her brain shut down after Paul had his way with her. Because what Mike did made it so much worse. He had beaten her severely, even going so far as to slam her head into the tiled wall. He had also raped her analy, not wanting to defile himself by fucking her the way the others had. When he was finished, he kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the floor and then beat her until she passed out. Bella laid there, unconscious, for almost thirty minutes before the bartender found her and called the cops. He had no idea what was going on, having been in the back restocking. She woke up as the paramedics were moving her onto the gurney, screaming and trying to escape. They had to heavily sedate her. The next few days were fuzzy, she vaguely remembered Sue being there, holding her hand and crying, and the cops telling her that Mike had been arrested and was in the county jail awaiting trial.

Bella was in the hospital for almost two weeks, with a severe concussion, two broken ribs and some internal bleeding. Her face would heal just fine. Apparently, Mike had not hit her more than a few times there. It was the emotional side the doctor was most concerned about. Bella had hardly said a whole sentence since she was brought in and would jerk away violently when anyone would try to touch her. She had to be admitted to a private room in the mental rehab ward because she would wake up screaming hysterically at night and begging someone to stop. Sue came by everyday and would talk to her, trying to get her to respond. Nothing worked. By the end of the first week, Bella was starting to eat. After the weekend, she started crying. She cried for four days straight, not even stopping when the nurse came to take her vitals. When she stopped crying on the fourth day, she finally started speaking. She told the whole incident to the police, identifying through pictures her attackers. They told her the DA would be able to make a strong enough case against them that she might not even have to testify. None of that mattered though, Bella was gone, she was a ghost living in the world.


End file.
